Boys Will Be Boys
by Grape Icies
Summary: DEAR BOYS WILL BE BOYS READERS: I REGRET TO INFORM YOU ALL THAT THIS STORY WILL BE DISCONTINUED. PLEASE DO NOT ASK FOR UPDATES. PLEASE DON'T ASK ME TO PICK IT UP AGAIN. MY SKILL LEVELS HAVE SURPASSED THE QUALITY OF IT And I've grown to hate it Sorry :/
1. Just an Average Day

A/N: Gah... Not enough Agito/Yayoi... *Twitch* Anyway, it doesn't say she's his official tuner yet. Yeah. My most popular story on Deviant Art, coming to you guys. YAY!

Edit A/N: SO! Grape Icies/ladyRanko here. I'm doing a REWRITE. This is too rushed for all the attention it gets. Also… If it catches my mood… I'll make it into a comic. Hmm… ONWARD!

DISCLAIMER: Ugh. I hate these, but it must be done… Air Gear and all related characters belong to Oh!Great, the ultimate master of hilarious, adventurous, perverted, and dramatic manga. Even if I want his characters, I think he'll do much better things with them.

Italics with apostrophes '…' mean thoughts

Regular quotation marks with regular text mean that they're speaking out loud

~*Boys Will Be Boys, Chapter One*~

_God is it hot..._

It seemed to be the same thought that everyone on team Kougarasumaru was thinking that hot, summer day. The sound of panting and the whir of tiny motors could be heard in the school's courtyard. It was that sort of day when no one wanted to go outside. At all. You could seriously fry an egg on the sidewalks because it was that hot. The weather report for that day said that temperatures would peak at 97 degrees Fahrenheit (or 36 degrees Celsius for everyone else), but of course, there was always that group of weirdoes that just had to take the day to stay outside. That's right. One of the hottest days of the damn summer and Kougarasumaru was outside. Practicing AT.

A small, delicate hand gripped onto a small wad of newspaper its owner had found lying around and fanned the girl's sweating face. She was lightly panting from the heat, hoping that the sun wouldn't burn her pale skin. _A tan would be nice… But a lobster burn would really suck,_ Yayoi Nakayama mused to herself before she sighed and watched in partial annoyance and amusement as she watched the newest addition to Kougarasumaru get used to her AT alongside her longtime crush. Yayoi couldn't help but to smile as Kazu unknowingly fell into Emily's trap, temporarily helping her forget just how much it irked her to be outside in this god-forsaken heat. But just as quickly as the notion came, a frown replaced the smile on her face. Now if only her own interest weren't so oblivious…

He was small and just so cute! But… Yayoi grimaced. He was the rudest, most foul-mouthed, most arrogant, proudest member of Kougarasumaru. It'd become even more apparent to her when she'd become his official tuner; She liked the bastard. A lot. Yayoi corrected herself mentally. _Well… he's not completely full of himself._ _He did save my life when Orca showed up…_ She smiled a little ways off as she thought about that kiss she gave to Lind before Agito took over. It wasn't the personality she knew and loved, but it was the same body, right? That had to count for something.

"Oi, onna."

Yayoi snapped out of her thoughts. _Speak of the devil…_ "Huh? You talking to me?" she asked nonchalantly.

The blue-haired fang king snorted, "Fuck! Who else would I be talking to?"

"Whaddya want, Agito?" Yayoi asked, bored. He cursed so often; it got to the point where she merely ignored it rather than try to get him to use less… crude language. She also ignored him calling her 'woman'.

Agito ordered, "Pass me a water bottle. This fucking heat is killing me."

"You have legs, Agito. I'm not your servant," Yayoi told him, looking at Emily and Kazu still. "Get it your damn self."

Agito grumbled, "Fucking bitch." He swiped a bottle of water from the cooler beside Yayoi and took a swing of the clear liquid, essentially chugging it.

A few minutes passed in silence, with only the sound of Agito chugging down bottles of water greedily. Yayoi looked up at the blue-haired youth and sighed before she opened her mouth to say something. "You know…" But, of course, she was interrupted.

"Agito!" Emily cried. "Hurry up with that water break! Onigiri is trying to steal Kururu's underwear and Ikki's about to kill him!" Both she and Kazu were holding Ikki back.

Yayoi closed her mouth and pouted slightly, twitching in irritation. '_Ten minutes in silence and they choose the moment I want to speak to call out to him…_' Yayoi sighed. '_Typical… that's so typical of this team._' The Fang King closed his current bottle, tossing it back to Yayoi before skating over to the scene. Yayoi caught the bottle, surprised to see a half-full plastic bottle coming her way. The brunette tossed the bottle over her shoulder, not caring where it would land. "Mendouske… (What a bother…)" She watched as Agito kicked Onigiri off his head AT. '_Wait for it… Here it comes… In 3… 2… 1…_'

"Fuck!"

'_Of course._'

~*At Kazu's house*~

Kururu, Yayoi, and Emily watched as the boys, save for Agito of course, argued over control of the TV remote. Emily frowned and placed her hands on her hips in disappointment. "Those boys are such headaches. Fighting over a stupid TV remote! Seriously!"

Yayoi yawned and reminded her, "Boys will be boys, Emily."

Kururu giggled as Emily muttered, "Just wish boys were a little quieter…"

Kazu held the remote high up in triumph. "It's mine!" he claimed.

Her mood immediately changed and Emily cheered happily, "Yay for Kazu-Sama!"

The remote was snatched from Kazu before Ikki knocked him down with his blast of wind. "MWAHAHAHA!"

Emily deadpanned. "Ikki…" she growled. The crow looked at her, suddenly a bit afraid. "RWAR!" She tackled Ikki to the ground harshly.

Kururu called to her, "Please don't hurt him too much, Emily!"

"RWAR!" Somewhere in the middle of Emily's attack, the remote flew into the air.

"He's doomed." Yayoi rested her chin on her fist and caught the remote with her other hand as Kururu sweat-dropped. "Great. Now it's mine." She gave Onigiri, Kazu, and Buccha a warning glare, silently daring them to take it from her.

Agito, who had been sitting away from the struggle the entire time, muttered, "Fucking idiots…"

Kazu's sister stormed into the room and yelled at all of them, "All of you! Get the hell _OUT_ of my damn house! And that means you too, KAZU."

Kazu protested, "I live here!"

"I don't care! It's not my problem! Go find somewhere else to sleep!" She tossed clothes at Kazu and demanded, "NOW LEAVE!"

All of them reluctantly shuffled out of the house. Agito growled at the other boys and Emily, "Damned loud-ass shit-heads…"

They glared at him angrily, hurtful thoughts going through all their heads. Kazu sighed. "Now where am I supposed to stay? Ikki doesn't have a house anymore."

Emily squeaked and blushed. "Kazu-Sama could stay at my house!"

"Really? Thanks, Emily!" Kazu grinned, oblivious. "Oh… But won't your parents have a problem with it?" he asked.

_Damn it!_ Emily cursed mentally. "You're right…"

Onigiri nudged Kazu. "What about my place?"

Kazu brightened again. "Yeah! I'm sure your folks won't mind."

While that was being settled, Yayoi turned to Ikki and Agito. She sighed. "I can't believe I'm about to ask this, but… Hey, Ikki?"

"Yea?"

"If you and Agito need a place to stay," she started, looking away nonchalantly. "My parents are out for the month so… I have some room for you… If you'd want to stay over."

Ikki grinned and grabbed her as he ruffled Yayoi's hair roughly, despite her protests. "You're the best, Nakayama!"

Yayoi quickly fixed her hair again. "Whatever," she told him curtly. "Just don't trash the place or I'll throw you back into the streets."

"Fuck! Do I get to decide too?" Agito asked irritably.

Ikki shrugged off the comment, and Agito's question, and waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry, Nakayama-Chan. We'll be good over at your house."

Yayoi muttered, "Better be…" She watched as Agito kicked a can and switched his eye patch, muttering something about stupid people. The rest of Kougarasumaru went separate ways. Emily, Buccha, and Kururu going on their own, while Onigiri led Kazu to his house and Yayoi led Ikki and Agito to her own home.

~*In the Nakayama Household*~

Akito looked around, awed by the sight. "This place is huge, Nakayama-San."

Yayoi looked at him, "It's not that big…"

Ikki plopped onto the over-stuffed couch. "It's way sweeter than Kazu's place."

She said, "Let me take you to the guest rooms so you two can leave me alone." Ikki, and now, Akito followed Yayoi down the hall. Yayoi propped open the first door. "Ikki, for your room." She opened a second door across the hall from Ikki's new room. "Akito, in here." Both Ikki and Akito walked curiously into their rooms.

Akito called to her, "Yayoi-Chan!"

"Yeah?" She walked over to him.

Akito pointed to a wooden door in the wall connecting to the next room. "Why's that door there?"

"It goes into my room."

Akito looked at her, confused. "What for?"

"It was just built there for some reason. I don't trust Ikki," she turned to glare at him. He smiled innocently at her in return, "with this room, so I let you use it."

Akito frowned. "Oh." He then asked frankly, "Can I share with Ikki-Kun?"

Ikki shook his head furiously in refusal. "NO! NO WAY!" Akito pouted sadly, sitting on his new bed.

After a few moments of silence, Yayoi yawned sleepily and looked at her watch. "Well. I'm going to bed. You guys should probably rest too…"

Ikki walked into his room. "Night, Nakayama. Akito." He yawned as he closed the door, locking it to make his room Akito-proof in the middle of the night.

She muttered after him, "It's Yayoi…"

Akito lay down on his bed and waved sleepily. "Good night, Yayoi-Chan."

Yayoi turned to him and couldn't help but to smile softly at the sweeter version of Agito. "Good night, Akito-kun." She closed the outer door before going into her own room.

Akito waited a few seconds, sat up, and went into a sort of trance…

~*End of Chapter One*~

EDIT: Are the edits any better? O.o I'd like to know!

Author's Note: I feel like I rushed it slightly… I dunno. Anyway, even if he hasn't shown up in this chapter, there WILL be Lind… because Lind is Sexy.


	2. Nightmares and Arguments

Author s note: Quite a bit of surprises in this chapter. Glad I haven t fallen into writers block This is coming along rather well. It just may be the first long term story I ever complete in my life, so let s be happy! And no, unfortunately I can t tell you what Agito, Lind, and Akito were talking about. It would result in a sort of spoiler. Enjoy anyway!

DISCLAIMER: As much as I want this manga to be mine It belongs to Oh!Great. May we all bow to his awesomeness for bringing us Air Gear.

~*Boys Will Be Boys, Chapter 2*~

~*In the mind of Akito*~

Agito and Akito sat across from Lind, the three of them silent. Finally, Agito spoke. "What do you mean?"

Lind asked Agito, "Are you oblivious? Maybe even blind?"

"Damned fucker! Just make your fucking point already!"

Lind sighed, shaking his head. He shared a body with these two idiots, why? Maybe fate hated him He lazily ran a hand through his blue, flown back hair. "I already have. Maybe if you had half a brain, Agito, you would figure out what I said."

Agito growled and lunged for Lind, but was held back by Akito. "Agito! Don t hurt Lind!" the sweeter one of the three protested.

Lind brushed off his shoulders. "Such a shame I don t ever get a turn with this body I am the forgotten personality despite the wonders I can do."

Agito spat at the ground before Lind. "Too bad. You won t get another past the one you got with Orca, fucking asshole!"

Lind frowned in disappointment. "Little brother treats me so unfairly."

Agito just glared at him, crossing his arms over his chest.

Then, the three of them suddenly yawned at the exact same time. Agito muttered to Akito, "Go to sleep We all need the rest"

Akito sleepily nodded, as Lind and Agito climbed into their mental beds, before disappearing and falling asleep in the world outside his mind.

~*Later during that night*~

Akito tossed and turned, muttering words of horror. Sweat lined his brow and bare chest as he moved frantically around, trying to run from an unnamed terror.

_Akito cried, "AGITO! WATCH OUT! KAITO-NII IS BEHIND YOU!"_

_Agito dove out of the way, just in time._

_Lind jumped to avoid another crack of Kaito s whip. "Whose nightmare is it this time?"_

_Agito shouted over the sound of Kaito s whip and maniac crackling, "I think it s Akito's!" He ducked._

_Kaito drew out his gun and started firing bullets at the three of them._

_Lind narrowly avoided a shot, but still the bullet singed his left shoulder. He looked up at the sky and sighed. "Thank god tomorrow is my turn." He tackled Kaito, who successfully fired a shot at Agito._

_"AGITO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Akito cried out._

Akito shot up, terror filling his eyes. He anxiously jumped out of his bed and yanked his door open to across the hall, only to find Ikki's door locked. He ran back into his room, slamming his door shut behind him before yanking the door between his and Yayoi's rooms and darting towards her bed and under her covers, shaking violently.

Yayoi muttered sleepily, "Akito?"

He continued to tremble.

"Akito, come here." She yawned, rubbing an eye with one hand and holding out her other arm for Akito to come into.

He crawled towards her, still trembling.

Yayoi yawned again as she hugged Akito securely and settled back into her pillows, still holding the terrified boy. "Just go back to sleep I won t let them hurt you," she muttered, not even paying attention to what she was saying.

When Yayoi finally went back to sleep, Akito yawned and nuzzled against the pillow, unknowingly switching the eye patch to Agito s side.

~*Next Morning*~

Yayoi's eyes fluttered open. The room was blurry, but slowly coming back into focus. She looked down towards her chest and froze. What was he doing there?! Akito's, or Agito's or whoever the hell it was, nose was shamelessly buried in her chest! The nerve! Yayoi was even more embarrassed because of the fact she always only slept with her underwear on. In desperation to get the boy away from her breasts, Yayoi pushed him off the bed.

"FUCK!" -It was definitely Agito- "Bitch! What the hell was that for?!"

Yayoi yelled back defensively, "I was getting your perverted ass off of my breasts!!"

Agito yelled, "I was not on them!"

Yayoi pointed to a red mark between her breasts. "Then what was this from?! That s where you had your snotty little nose buried!"

"LIAR!"

"DON T CALL ME A LIAR WHEN IT WAS YOU WHO CAME CRAWLING INTO MY ROOM!"

"IT WAS--"

Ikki burst in. "What the hell is going on in here?! It sounds like World War III in here!"

Yayoi and Agito continued to glare at one another, obviously pissed off by the argument they just had.

Ikki saw Yayoi still in her lingerie. "Nice bra, Nakayama. What size are you?" he asked in all seriousness.

Yayoi growled and threw her alarm clock at Ikki. "None of your business! NOW BOTH OF YOU, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM!"

Ikki and Agito ran out of Yayoi s room, leaving her fuming on her bed. "What's their problem?" she huffed furiously.

~*At school*~

Akito sunk lower into his seat to avoid Nakayama, Yayoi s glare of death. Obviously she was still upset about waking up to find Agito s face in her chest. It was kind of his, Akito, fault He had gotten them used to running to Ikki whenever the three of them have a nightmare And well Since Ikki was a guy and therefore had a flat chest, Akito was always curling up to the crow and pressing his nose to the place where Agito unconsciously had placed his nose on Yayoi s chest. Akito groaned. Now what was he going to do?

Yayoi continued to glare at him angrily. _DAMN PERVERTED MIDGET!_

Akito, Agito, and even Lind sighed miserably. This was going to be a very, very long day.

~*Once more! Inside the mind of Akito*~

Lind smirked. Even if those other two personalities couldn t appreciate sleeping in the comfort of such a lovely girl s chest He, Lind, was man enough to realize the comfort of the feat. Oh how he longed for contact to the outside world Away from these blubbering idiots that were his only contact. Though he was destined to take over Agito and Akito s mind, who knows when that would be? It would take much too long and he wanted to reach that Nakayama girl before it was too late. What was her name again?

Lind thought deeply about it. _Now what could it have been..._ He trailed off.

Agito wandered past his other personality. "What are you plotting?"

"Oh nothing," Lind calmly answered him. "Do you know that Nakayama girl s name?" I think I forgot it.

"Why do you care? Fuck!"

Lind shrugged. "Slight curiosity? A tiny interest? He paused for a moment. You would be nice enough to do a brother of yours that one favor right?"

Agito snorted, but said gruffly. "Yayoi."

Lind repeated the name slowly and smoothly, as if he had tasted the sweetest candy, "Yayoi Nakayama." X-Crossed eyes gleamed with delight. Lind chuckled, "Thanks."

"Whatever," Agito muttered as he walked away, hands in pockets.

~*Back in the real world*~

Akito whispered to Kururu, "Yayoi-Chan's starting to scare me..."

Kururu asked him, "What did you do?"

Akito was too embarrassed to tell.

"It's okay," she offered gently, "you don t have to tell me."

Akito sighed and buried his head under a book, evading Yayoi's glare once more.

Kururu couldn t help but to frown. Either way, what DID Akito do to earn him a grudge this great? She shook her head. This was certainly the most interesting group of Storm Riders she has ever faced.

~~~*End of Chapter 2*~~~

Author's Note: Lind is plotting something. Only God knows what s on his mind. Anyway, I put in a slight twist for anyone that cares or even notices it. Well Agito and Lind seem to be friendlier. There s a biggie. Also, Ikki needs much more of his perverted humor! YOU WILL DEFINITELY SEE THAT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! And Simca! And Ringo! WE NEED RINGO AND SIMCA!


	3. Tuning sounds a lot like

A/N: The long awaited chapter 3 has finally arrived! I'm so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry that it took so long. I'm not going to bore you with the details, but I can tell you where I picked inspiration up from. You see, it's winter break and I'm a sick little senior, which completely sucks, and for comfort, I delved back into the world of Xiaolin Showdown (LOVE THAT SHOW) and after rewatching the entire series on Youtube, went on a hunt for yummy fanfiction. Then I found one of the best fanfics I've read in a REALLY long time. :3 I felt so bad about not updating… here I am, finally buckling down and getting this chapter finished!

AND OMG! I FINALLY FOUND THE STORY THAT FIRST INSPIRED ME! Look up 'Selfish Sacrifice by Mitsuko Soma and press her to write more. Her story was much more entertaining than mine!

The last line in the story was pure gold.

"Gonna be a witch?"

"Your witch, if you let me."

NOW! With Queen and Daft Punk and May'n and all other musical geniuses guiding my quest, I WILL GET THIS DONE FOR YOU! I WILL WRITE UNTIL IT'S PERFECT! This one's for you, Clozzie (who threatened me with death if I didn't update at some point). And my portuguese reviewer. 3 And all my reviewers as a whole. 3

* * *

Yayoi watched as Kururu pointed out certain AT parts, their functions, how they affect the rider's performance, how to fix and alter them, and such. She asked, "So then this part goes with this one?" Yayoi pointed out the parts she was speaking of.

"Yup!" Kururu nodded. "I'll teach you how to really come in sync with the regalia. You won't need help with tuning," the pink-haired girl said with a soft smile.

"Won't need help with the tuning?" Yayoi gave her the crazy look. "I've never picked up a wrench in my entire life! How am I supposed to know how to use it?"

Kururu turned her body towards Yayoi, her soft smile still there but with a hint of sobriety in her expression as she placed her hands on Yayoi's chest. "You already know how to use your tools, Nakayama-chan." She closed her eyes and smiled a bit wider. "I can't teach you how to use tools for tuning because your teacher is your heart. Follow it and you'll know. The real battle is falling in sync with your rider."

Yayoi looked stunned. This girl was delusional with all this heart-teaching crap! '_Note to self: Stay away from whatever weed Kururu's smoking! I really hope that the mentality isn't contagious._' Still, she had questions and Kururu was the only one she knew could answer her. She cringed as she realized the one question she really had involved all that sappy 'listen to your heart' nonsense Kururu'd been spitting out just a few moments ago. Yayoi asked after a heavy and awkward pause, "Something didn't feel right about that regalia. It seemed… I don't know… fake."

When the other girl gave her a questioning look, she only shrugged and smiled at her sheepishly, pointing one finger at her ears and the other at her heart. "I heard it in here."

Kururu beamed happily, glad that Yayoi seemed to be getting the point. However, the smile faded rather quickly. "Well…" she started, rubbing the back of her neck and avoiding all the clips in her hair, "all of the regalia out there today aren't the _real_ ones." She was speaking seriously, rubbing her chin with her free hand. Talking about the regalia was a heavy subject and she usually sobered up and got serious when they were mentioned. "These are good imitations, but they can't live up to the original standards."

The girl fell silent and traced the outline of Agito's AT with her finger, almost hearing the mechanics of it. "I don't think I could tune these yet. The first time was definitely a fluke."

Kururu smiled. "Don't worry! If you did it once, you can do it again!" she told her enthusiastically, the sobriety leaving her for the moment. "You'll be able to do it perfectly soon, you and Agito-san just need to really fall in sync."

'_Sync, sync, sync. It's all about the syncing. Jeeze, woman. Are we playing Yu-Gi-Oh?' _"Is that how it's usually done?"

She nodded. "Usually, riders are known by their tuners better than anyone else. There can't be secrecy when it comes to AT tuning. It's a very intimate process," the more experienced tuner emphasized, suddenly gripping Yayoi's hands tightly as the newbie felt a blush creeping up her cheeks at the intensity of Kururu's words. "Nothing can ever be left out. Everything needs to be out in the open and you two need to fall into-"

Yayoi cut her off and gave her a nervous guess at what she was going to say. "Perfect sync?"

"That's it!" she said with a wide-eyed happiness, letting go of her hands.

Yayoi gave a sigh of relief and wiped her forehead with a napkin. That girl really made her nervous sometimes. Her blush crept back up her face. The way she'd been talking about "falling into sync with your rider", it really sounded like…

As if someone were reading her mind, she stiffened as she was suddenly groped from behind. "Yayoi-chan is having dirty thoughts," Emily said slyly, her hands rubbing on her best friend's breasts. "Without me? You naughty girl."

"EMILY!" she yelled, her blush growing stronger. "Get off of me!"

Kururu looked at the scene blankly, more than a little confused in her innocence, tilting her head to the side slightly. "Emily-san… Why are you holding Yayoi-san like that?"

Emily gave Kururu a 'are you serious' look. She whispered to Yayoi while the other girl pried her friend's hands off of her, "Air head major?"

"You have no idea," she muttered before she stood up. "Thanks for the lessons, Kururu." After seeing her smile and nod, Yayoi started to turn around and… ran smack-dab into someone who'd knocked her back down on her ass. "Oh come on!" she complained, rubbing her behind. "I just got up!"

"FUCK!"

_Nice. Agito, _she thought to herself grumpily as she spotted the blue-haired wonder. He held his mouth, looking pained as he nursed whatever injury he had. She instantly softened up and knelt in front of him. "Agito, are you okay?"

He shot her a dangerous glare. "_Obviously _fucking not!" he snapped, wincing a little. "Your stupid chin busted my lip!"

"I'm sorry!" she yelled back defensively, cringing away from him. Agito mentally face-palmed.

'_Stupid weak girls,_' he thought to himself crankily. "Look, I didn't mean to-"

She held up her hand to shut him up. "Don't apologize. It's not like you." Yayoi looked up at Emily, who'd stood up somewhere in the course of the exchange. "Can you get me a first-aid kit?" Emily nodded and headed off to find one, dragging Kururu with her to give the two a little privacy.

Yayoi looked down at her hands as Agito looked up at the sky, awkward silence filling the space around them.

"I'm really sorry," Yayoi finally said after a minute of the silence.

"For what?"

"You know… your lip?"

He sighed behind his hand that was covering his lip. "I should've watched where I was going." He grew annoyed when he saw her giving him a crazy look. "What're you fucking looking at!" he snapped, annoyed and wincing when he agitated his wound again.

She felt at his forehead and checked his eyes. "Nope. Not sick." He glowered in annoyance and snapped his teeth at her hands, which she pulled back quickly. "That's more like Agito," Yayoi said dryly. He turned his nose upwards, intent on ignoring her ass now. She huffed irritably. "What did I say now?" He refused to answer her. "You're so immature," she grumbled as Emily and Kururu came back with the kit. Yayoi took it and opened it up before roughly yanking Agito's hand away from his face.

"The fuck—HEY!" Agito protested, stunned by the sudden movement.

"Hold still!" Yayoi commanded, her hand holding his jaw.

"Why the FUCK would I do that? STOP FUCKING GRABBING ME, BITCH!" he yelled out, wincing afterwards.

She gave him an exasperated look. "That's why!"

He grumbled and switched his eye-patch. "I'm fucking tired of you," he muttered as he did so. "Akito can deal with your difficult ass." She looked up to the sky and thanked the heavens for the reprieve… rather loudly, one might add.

Akito looked at Yayoi and tugged at her sleeve. "Yayoi-chan?"

"Sorry," she grumbled and got to disinfecting Akito's wound, giving him many sweet words when he would wince and cry out at the sting, tears actually falling down his cheeks and making her heart quench in guilt. "Just… Hang on for a second," she told him as she finally started to clean up the blood on his face after the cut had stopped bleeding so strangely. '_He's a shark alright_,' she thought to herself, more than a little annoyed by the whole thing and the fact that Emily and Kururu had abandoned her during her argument with Agito. '_What kind of fangs does he have that he did that to his own lip? Dumb shark_.'

"Ano…"

"Hmm?" she looked down at Akito, who'd balled up a little in his shyness.

"Sorry about Agito… He's been in a bad mood lately," Akito apologized, looking down at the ground.

"It's not your fault," Yayoi sighed.

"You're not mad at us anymore?" he asked.

"No."

He sighed in relief and smiled happily. "Good. I thought you would be mad forever."

Yayoi stood up and held her hand out to him as she helped him stand up. "Let's go home." She looked around for Ikki quickly and decided to leave him behind.

"B-But Ikki…"

"Itsuki can get back to my house on his own," she told him. "I'm hungry and I don't feel like waiting for him." Akito nodded shyly and simply followed her, intimidated by the exchange she and his other half had had. Yayoi swung a cap onto her head and shoved her hands into the pockets of her favorite pair of overalls. She'd thought that she and Kururu would do some actual work today and had worn them as a precaution. She looked down, mindful of Akito behind her, and noticed a hole worn into the old denim at her knee. Strangely, the hole only made her love them even more. They went well with her favorite, beat-up pair of converse (which she'd gone through a lot of trouble customizing). She looked over her shoulder at Akito. '_Why's he sulking? It's not like I had an argument with him.'_ She hit her forehead with her palm. '_But I had one with Agito. Leave it to Akito to get all depressed over something that happened with his other… half…? Self…? Personality…? Brother…? AUGH. I'm done thinking about that!_' she thought with finality, feeling herself get aggravated again.

"Akito!"

He snapped his head up to look at her, breaking out of his daze. "Hmm?"

"How do you feel about some sweets?" she asked, smiling a bit and feeling a sense of satisfaction when his whole demeanor lightened up. "I'll take that as a yes." Akito ran up to catch up with her and they went off into town to go find a sweets shop.

Lind looked out at the world through Akito's eyes (erm… eye). He ran a hand back through his already blown-back hair that looked as if it were in constant tussle with the wind. He frowned when he saw that he was with _her._ He puckered his face a little and moved around, growling when his chains restricted even that. He didn't deserve this. He was locked up all the time: a prisoner in his own mind. Lind groaned and lay back. He was going crazy in his share of the head.

The imprisoned boy stood and walked to the bars of the cage, wrapping his fingers around the cool, scarred metal. In his prison, he was naked: exposed to his 'brothers'. They could see all of him. He felt no shame as they shared his form, but he knew they regarded him as no better than an animal at a zoo. Like a dangerous predator that they could control by depriving him his freedom, he kept his rare moments of freedom fresh in his head and that damn girl plagued his first and last taste of it.

He hated her for it, but she was his ticket to freedom. She'd shown him that she had a good heart when she'd given him her last breath. Her kindness could only dissolve his bars like the acid it was to Agito and Akito. He knew they were weak to her. Akito saw her as his sister-figure and Agito… Lind almost laughed out loud. Agito liked their plain-Jane. If she continued on the path she was on, she'd be able to wrap the youngest shark around her little finger and that would be his ticket. He needed his freedom. He couldn't stay here forever.

Lind kneeled over and wrapped his arms around himself in close-to-desperation. "I refuse to be an animal any longer," he said softly, his body calming down from the sudden tense-up. He looked down at the chains on his wrists and clutched the collar around his neck, closing his eyes in mock-meditation. '_I need her. I need her to let me out of this cage and I will get her,_' Lind resolved, not making any movements to alert Agito, who was always within earshot and ready to torture him if he made any threatening movements.

* * *

A/N: *Depression* I also just realized that my edited chapter 2 was never put up. Sorry… But I think I lost it and I want to get this done so badly that I really don't think I'll be editing it again any time soon. All I can tell you guys is to PLEASE forgive the really abrupt style of that chapter and I'll try to remedy some of its plot holes in future chapters. (Plot? Lol! What plot?)

So I've decided to continue on my path for a primarily Agito/Yayoi fluff story, but give it some implied darkfic elements where Lind is concerned. Am I the only one that feels bad for the guy? He's locked in a cage all the time for goodness' sake. Also. I won't overcomplicate everything and force Simca and Ringo into everything. If they show up, they show up. So I'm sorry about breaking that promise. :x

Once again, I apologize! I'm so sorry for keeping you guys waiting so long. TT_TT More than one year is unacceptable.


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